By Quentin Fottrell

After years of choppy sales, publishers of religious books posted revenue growth of 7% last year, to $1.45 billion — driven largely by sales of e-books, according to new data from the American Association of Publishers. A separate study found e-books accounted for nearly one-third of all Christian fiction sold in 2011. That marks a six-fold increase from the previous year, and puts it well above the level of all other publishing genres, according to Bowker Market Research. (The closest competitor was “general fiction,” with 17% of sales from e-books.)

Why the surge in digital demand? Privacy is one explanation. Erotic titles with racy covers are believed to sell better as e-books because the technology removes the embarrassment of toting them around in public – and the same may be true of spiritual titles, experts say. Book jackets covered in angels and rainbows may be equally uncomfortable for some people to read in public, says Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords.com, a publisher of self-published e-books. “These books can be sampled, purchased and read without the judgmental eyes of a clerk at the cash register, or colleagues who might glance at the cover.” Plus, digital bibles and sex trilogies are only as heavy as your Kindle Fire, he says.

Indeed, writers say it makes sense that erotica bestsellers like “Fifty Shades of Grey” by E.L. James and religious ones like “Heaven is for Real” by Todd Burpo are achieving similar success in the e-book market. Besides death, there are two experiences universal in the human condition: sex and faith, says Patchen Barrs, author of The Erotic Engine. In fact, he says the two genres have long been strange bedfellows. As far back as the 14th Century households had to be wealthy to afford a single book, he says: “Often that manuscript was a prayer book with erotic pictures in the margins. They served both body and soul.”

That said, in 2012 many cash-strapped consumers who cut back on their spending in the last year are genuinely searching for a bigger meaning in their lives, religious publishers say. “People are looking for something to help them make sense of what is happening in the world, something that will give them assurance, peace, connectedness and hope,” says Catherine Lawton, publisher and editor of Cladach Publishing in Greeley, Col. Many Americans realize their pre-recession spending was unfulfilling, and are increasingly worried about the uncertain economic outlook.

The category has also been helped by a slew of Christian blockbusters, which sold solid numbers throughout the 1990s and early 2000s and have now found a second life in digital form, says Lynne Garrett, senior religion editor at Publisher’s Weekly. This has also helped encourage more booksellers of religious and spiritual titles, she says. Bestsellers like “Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, not Food” by Lysa TerKeurst and “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young have sold millions in paperback and are available on Amazon’s Kindle.

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Pay Dirt examines the millions of consumer decisions Americans make every day: What to buy, how much to pay, whether to rave or complain. Lead written by Quentin Fottrell, the blog examines these interactions, providing readers with news, insight and tips on shopping, spending, customer service, and companies that do right – and wrong – by their customers.